Author of ‘American Wine’ Doesn’t Seem to Know Much About American Wine
British writer Jancis Robinson dismissive, unenthusiastic at recent discussion
By
Courtney on Thursday, March 28, 2013 ·
In the introduction to her chapter on California in her newest book,
American Wine,
the preeminent British wine journalist Jancis Robinson writes,
“California is the most important winegrowing state in the U.S., the
granddaddy of them all in both prestige and production.” And of that
small region within California, she says: “The Napa Valley AVA is the
king of the U.S. wine realm. No wine region in America has a finer
reputation around the world for high-quality grapes and wines.”
Which is why we were a little surprised by a recent conversation we
had with Ms. Robinson and co-author Linda Murphy. In response to a
fairly straight-forward question about the evolving style of cabernet
sauvignon in Napa Valley the two writers laughed. Neigh, their cackling
actually interrupted me, the questioner. “That’s random,” mused
Murphy. Not that random, I thought. “Napa Valley is in your book,” I
pointed out.
“It is in our book, yes, but it’s not the
way our brains have been working,” said Robinson by way of recovery. “I
do feel slightly uncomfortable being set up as an expert on Napa Valley
cabernet. I would never claim to be. I mean Linda, as co-author of
American Wine, has been exposed to far more Napa cabernets than I have.”
Fair enough — that is what co-authors are for. But it made us start
to wonder, if Robinson, whose name appears first on the book jacket, is
no expert on what she crowned the “king of the U.S. wine realm,” just
what
is her expertise?
“I’m not the closest observer of Napa.”
Robinson, who says she is in London “364 days a year,” admits
“I’m not the closest observer of Napa.”
In London, says Robinson, “We see so few good California wines. It’s
really sad. … Our dear Geoffrey Roberts, who was our importer of top
quality California wines died in, I think, ’94. Nobody really picked up
where he left off.” Probably, she sees a lot of Virginia chardonnay or
Michigan riesling or, perhaps, pinot noir from New Jersey?
After our interview, Robinson appeared on stage with Murphy for an
hour-long televised interview hosted by a bodacious fake blonde who
had just returned from teaching wine classes on a cruise ship and began
the evening with this delightful joke: “People say that I must work my
ass off and I say honey, I work my ass on!”
Robinson — wearing magenta tights, Joseph technicolor heeled
booties and a garish grape cluster broach that hinted at a sense of
humor in spite of her reputation — vacillated between leaning heavily
on Murphy’s knowledge and undermining her enthusiasm with sidelong
glances and smirks that suggested she thought the whole thing
ridiculous.
Seated next to the blonde (“People ask me what my favorite wine is and I say ‘the wine that is in my glass, because I can
drink it!’” was another gem) and Murphy, a former sports writer, it appeared that
the tiny, prim Robinson had not only been swallowed by American Wine, but by America itself.
Robinson mentioned the same three wines that she had during her
earlier NPR interview: Gruet, a sparkling wine producer from New Mexico
(whose name she struggled to pronounce) “makes a very credible copy of
Champagne,” said Robinson of a wine that — grown in the high desert in
sandy soils at 4,300 feet — is nothing at all like Champagne but
certainly distinct and incredibly affordable. She tells the Finger Lakes
that “the time has come to be prouder of your local product,” (as if
those growers who brave unfriendly conditions every year to make such
tasty riesling weren’t proud already) and of Virginia — which Murphy
holds up as one of the most promising regions — she says generously, “I
was very impressed — they are making some serious wine.”
But shoots
down one of the area’s best producers who dares to sell his wine for
fine-wine prices: “Does the world need another Bordeaux blend? The
answer is probably no.”
Murphy at one point tried to make a case for New Jersey cabernet
sauvignon and chardonnay by citing at a Judgement of Paris-inspired
tasting held in Princeton where the local wines triumphed over First
Growths. But when questioned by Robinson with a smarmy smirk, she
admitted that the judges “weren’t necessarily wine people.” And then
Murphy implicates her own palate: “I rated two New Jersey cabernets
above Chateau Latour. Boy was I embarrassed. … We were all a lot off
base,” she finally concluded, tail between legs.
Okay, so, no New Jersey wine.
But back to the most important region in America. What does California do well?
“You
don’t have tradition, but a lot of leaders have a lot of money which
helps. … You do have the advantage of great American determination
along with money in many cases. A lot of wineries are vanity projects.
They are people who made a lot of money already, and this is how they
choose to spend it – the needed a hobby.
It is a large hole in the ground into which money is thrown. I take my hat off to them.”
So California has determination and money. To quote one of
our favorite Americans, “You’re not wrong, Jancis, you’re just an asshole.”
From
http://tabletograve.com/author-american-wine-doesnt-seem-know-much-about-american-wine/
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